The Audubon Flamingo
The most famous of the Audubon Prints titled American Flamingo - John Audubon created this iconic drawing of an American flamingo as part of his 435 hand-colored engravings. The popular Flamingo (now extinct) was drawn in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and is featured in John James Audubon’s monumental book Birds of America. The four volumes of various Audubon prints of birds was published between 1826 and 1838. The Audubon publication included life-sized representations of nearly five hundred species of North American birds.
John James Audubon’s was the first to attempt to catalog North American birds in more than just a common scientific illustration format, which basically was lifeless specimens against a blank background. When Audubon showed birds as they appeared in the wild and in many cases in books so large he could present them life-sized, the public was enthralled. When his prints were first published, some scientists and naturalists objected to Audubon’s use of artistic dramatic action and pictorial design “These are the qualities that set his work apart and made it not only an invaluable record of early American wildlife but an unmatched work of American art.” - Henry Atkinson
Audubon wanted to make Birds of America useful to both professional and amateur ornithologists. He presented the birds at eye level to make them clearly visible. His biggest contribution to ease of visibility was that he painted the birds as close to their actual size as possible. The original books were three feet tall by two feet wide - enough room for life-sized drawing of almost any bird in America. However, the American flamingo can stand almost five feet high. In regards to the American Flamingo - rather than give up size and detail, Audubon chose to depict the bird bending down, as if it was about to dip its beak into the water.
His drawing of the flamingo offers “ beautiful details of the long legs that help the flamingo wade into deep water, webbed toes to support it on muddy ground, a serpentine neck to twist the head backward in the water, and a boomerang-shaped beak to filter water and trap food.” Today Audubon prints are incredibly valuable and are sold as masterful works of art.
